The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for producing a small individual package containing a single strand of filamentary materia such as dental floss or the like coiled within about a four square inch area and having a number of turns sufficient to provide a strand of at least about eighteen inches in length.
The packaging of dental floss and other filamentary material has tended to utilize a spool or some variation thereof to wind a substantial quantity of the filamentary material, typically 50 feet or more, leaving it to the ultimate user to cut off a length of the filamentary material suitable for the intended purpose. It has been recognized that in certain applications of filamentary materials, such as dental floss, it would be convenient to provide an individual package, sealed against contamination, containing a pre-cut length of the filamentary material suitable for the intended purpose. For products such as dental floss, for example, any such packaging must be produced in a very economical manner in order that it not vastly exceed the value of the product being packaged.
An example of forms of individual dental floss packaging is shown in Whittaker U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,946, issued Nov. 27, 1990 (U.S. Cl. 206/210); to a lesser extent the state of the art with respect to such packaging is exemplified in the references cited in the foregoing patent. Typical efforts at providing individual packaging for dental floss or other filamentary material involved winding a length of the filamentary material on a spindle formed of a flat piece of plastic or paperboard before placing it in the package or placing an unsupported length of filamentary material in the package in some indeterminate manner.
Copending parent application Ser. No. 08/732,692 U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,343 referenced herein is incorporated by reference in this application.